The Almost Ranger
by TheUschMan
Summary: The nephew of Ernie, Dylan Sanders, arrives in Angel Grove and starts his first shift at his uncle's juice bar, but not before he becomes infatuated with Kimberly Hart. After accidentally being teleported to the Command Center with five other teenagers he hopes to befriend, what will happen when Dylan finds out there is only five power coins and no place for him on the team.
1. My Morphenominal First Day

**(A/N) Hello readers, it's The Usch Man and this is my first installment of what I hope to be a long running series that deals with the struggles of a new character**

 **to the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers universe named Dylan Sanders. His main story line deals with being romantically interested in Kimberly Hart. I was**

 **interested in writing this story because I had a huge crush on Amy Jo Johnson as a small boy and wanted to explore the idea, now that I am older, of actually**

 **being involved in the world of Angel Grove. If you like the story or have any suggestions please leave comments. This is my first real attempt at being an author**

 **so please be understanding if this not extraordinary right from the start, but I will try to get better. Also, I will be writing from a male perspective, but if you guys**

 **feel it is necessary for me to try and write from Kimberly's perspective I will try my best. I will try to update the story every Monday. This story will be greatly**

 **affected by its readers so I encourage all of you to review, favorite, and follow. Thank you and I hope this story turns itself into something extraordinary.  
**

 **Dylan's POV**

I tucked the bottom of my multi-colored shirt into my black pants as I walked from the bus stop to my new place of employment across the street. The sign read "Angel Grove

Youth Center Gym and Juice Bar" and it happened to be owned by the only relative I was aware of, Uncle Ernie. The plane ride from Florida to California was excruciatingly

painful and the thirty minute bus ride from the airport to the youth center was the perfect ending to a terrible week. My mom left us on Monday for another man who

coincidentally lives in California, fingers crossed I never meet the bastard; my dad left for an impromptu trip to the moon on Wednesday to investigate some mysterious object;

and because of the situation with my mother coming only two days before he had to leave for the trip, I was to be shipped off to sunny Angel Grove, California to live with my

uncle that I had only met once or twice. Life fucking sucked but I suppose that's normal for any 14 year old freshman that was the new kid in town. Anyways, at least I was

employed right? I just didn't know how to spend my money yet, maybe new shoes or a new jacket, who knows. I was pumped for my first job but when I heard it was a youth

center I assumed it would be swarmed with little annoying ass children. There was only one way to find out. I started to walk into the Youth Center as I realized I had left my all

of my suitcases on the bus and began to panic.

"Fuck!" I screamed out.

I looked to the sky and sarcastically said, "really God?"

"I asked you to take it easy on me on Monday and you've been sending me down the shit hatch every day of the damn week." Before I got to loud in my verbal assault, a man touched my shoulder.

"Excuse me young man, I saw these left on the bus and I believe they belong to you," a forty year old looking man said to me. I saw the suitcases and automatically felt the most relieved I had in days.

"Thank you so much sir, you really are a life saver."

"No problem, now may I ask you a question?"

"Sure." I responded with a cooperative look on my face.

"Is Angel Grove a nice place to live? I am here visiting to see if it will be a good place to move my new family."

"Oh, this is actually my first day here, but if I see you again anytime soon I'll get back to you on that one." I said laughing at the end of the statement.

"Okay well thank you anyway son, what's your name so I know for future reference."

"Dylan Sanders sir, and yours?"

"Brandon Oliver."

"Mr. Oliver, what brings you to the Youth Center?"

"Oh, I was just coming to return your things , have a good day Dylan."

I waved as he left and noticed that his walk and stature seemed somewhat familiar, but vanquished the thought realizing that I didn't know anyone from California except for

Uncle Ernie. I finally made my way into the juice bar and was greeted with a big hug from my uncle. The time to start my training had _come upon me._

I saw Uncle Ernie walking to the back of the juice bar saying, "alright now first let's show you how to take out the trash."

Although I wanted to listen, all I could do was stand and stare at the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in my 14 years on Earth. She was doing tricks and spins on the balance

beam until finally executing a front flip onto the floor. I had just found what I wanted to spend my money on, her.

A pretty Asian girl walked up next to her and said something, but before I could introduce myself I heard Uncle Ernie say, "Dylan let's hit it kid."

I suddenly broke my gaze and headed to the back to take out the trash. Eventually I went through the other duties of the juice bar which included cutting fruit, grilling burgers,

and making shakes. I peaked out of the back room while waiting for a burger to grill, and saw group of teenagers, one of them being my mystery girl, sitting at a table talking to

a blonde kid with glasses about something. They looked like they ruled this joint, and I kind of wanted in on that. Being friends with the cool kids wouldn't hurt my new reputation

at all.

Uncle Ernie must have seen me looking because he quickly asked, "you want to meet them kid?"

I stumbled on the word "sure," and slowly made my way over to the table, casually fixing my hair and clothes from the thirty or so minutes I had been working. This was my

make it or break it moment.

"Here help me take this tray over to the gang, it's there drinks anyway."

Shaking my head I took the tray and walked over with Uncle Ernie, hoping I wouldn't spill the drinks everywhere in the process due to my sudden sensation of panic and

nervousness. _  
_

"Hey guys this is my nephew Dylan."

They all collectively said hello and waved but before I could get anything out of my mouth, the room started to shake. Now being from Florida I wasn't really as experienced with

earthquakes as Californians so I thought I was just having a nervous break down until I heard everyone else in the room screaming. To be honest I couldn't hear much of what

was being said, except for seeing the group of five move down to the open area below the juice bar, so instinctively I followed.

I was standing in between the mystery cutie and the geeky kid when suddenly I heard the one in red say "Hold on!"

Suddenly I felt my crush's hand grab me in what was an attempt to hold on to something, I suppose, and then my body suddenly felt exhilarated and I swore I started to glow

pink. I kept my eyes closed for the next thirty seconds because I legitimately thought I was going to die, but at least she was touching me right? The next time I opened my eyes

I was on the cold, hard floor of what looked like a possible version of the afterlife.

As all six of us stood I finally got to say my first words to the group which were "Are we dead?"

"Well this isn't exactly the mall is it," came from the mysterious gymnast's mouth seconds later as if I didn't even exist. Ouch, mystery girl, ouch.

The group then continued to talk among themselves as I looked at the plethora of lights and gadgets inside of this unknown area. Suddenly, we all were startled by a small robot

that held the attention of the nerdy boy for a while until a huge floating head, yes a fucking floating head, greeted us 'humans'. He then proceeds to tell us a story about some bitch

named Rita Repulsa and some shit about her trying to take over Earth. My first day was starting to become really fucked up , and I am not going to lie, I felt that I was finally

starting to enjoy the crazy and adventurous atmosphere of Angel Grove. Then the floating blob responded to a question posed by the yellow-clad girl about our involvement with

what he had been telling us about.

"You've been chosen to form an elite team to battle Rita, each of you will be given access to extraordinary power drawn from the ancient creatures you call dinosaurs."

Suddenly I saw belts with huge metal pieces attached appear on the others waists but not on mine. The fuck? Is mine defective or something? Come on now. As I stood and

waited for my belt to appear I heard the one who called himself 'Zordon' explain to the others that they could now 'morph' into fighters to defeat evil. Where the fuck is my belt?

Seriously, I was trying to be patient but I was getting really worried. Then Zordon goes on about huge fighting machines called 'zords' and I started looking around to see if

anyone noticed that I didn't have a 'morpher' but to no surprise, no one did. It started to seem like none of them cared what happened to me or even that I existed, and that

sucked. Being the new kid who only knows the names of his uncle, a floating head, and a talking robot blew because it made me feel even more disconnected from the other five

teens, which is not what I wanted or needed in that situation. Then, Zordon started calling off their names like it was nothing. He started with Jason who I found out was the one

who wore mostly red. Okay, thanks for the random ass information Zordon, because it actually proved useful at that time. Alright, Zack was the guy in black clothes, got it.

"Kimberly, graceful and small" Oh okay so mystery hottie was named Kimberly, sweet. Finally I knew her name, ten points to the floating head.

Billy was the geek in overalls, seemed fitting. And finally the beautiful Asian was Trini. Awesome, now I knew them all by name, thanks for filling me in severed white head. Only then

did it hit me that Zordon was not trying to help me learn their names, but he was actually assigning them the powers of…fucking dinosaurs. THE FUCK IS MY LIFE RIGHT NOW. Oh

wait, that means I was next, I was actually going to be involved in something with the cool kids. This was my moment, why God had been so hard on me lately so that I would

have being on this team with theses kids as a reward. This was it, my life was going to turn around.

But no, Zordon then cut to "Observe the viewing globe."

I'm sorry but I had waited long enough to speak out. "Um excuse me Zordon is it? What about me? I didn't get a morpher and you skipped over me when you gave out the

powers and I'm here too so is this a glitch or-"

"Dylan Sanders it is my greatest of regrets to inform you that your bringing here was of completely accidentally purposes. I do not have a power coin for you nor is there

currently a place on this team for you, now as I said please turn your attention to the viewing globe." Wow.

As I turned to the viewing globe I finally saw a look of sorrow from the group towards me, but I didn't notice it much since I felt defeated by what had just happened. To be

honest the rest of what happened is a blur because after I turned my back to Zordon I was teleported back to the outside of the Youth Center. The saddest part about it was that

I didn't even question it and just started walking into the building. As I was taking what felt like a walk of shame, I started to question how I would have been brought to Zordon

by mistake. Suddenly, it hit me that Kimberly had grabbed my arm right before she was teleported, accidentally take me along for the depressing ride. After coming to that

conclusion and slowly losing my self esteem, I quickened my pace and made it into what was to be my new home from 3-9 on weekdays. I helped Uncle Ernie clean the debris

from the earthquake and promised myself that making friends with the 'Power Rangers' would no longer be my number one priority. When friends weren't the first thing on my

mind for the first time since I had gotten to Angel Grove, an overwhelming sense of sadness and loneliness stemmed from my reflection on what had happened to me in the last

week. I came to the realization that I was never going be good enough for Kimberly, the Power Rangers, or even, and most heart breaking, my own mother. Work was all I

wanted to think about now because my spirit was broken. The blank expression on my face was the source of many questions from Uncle Ernie, but I kept telling him I was just

tired from the trip so that he would leave me alone. I guess I had finally found my place in Angel Grove, and it was behind the counter. What a 'morphenominal' first day.


	2. High Six

**(A/N) This is my second installment for this story. I hope you enjoy where the story is going. Please review, favorite, and follow, if you want more installments.**

 **Dylan's POV**

My second day in Angel Grove began when my alarm clock woke me up from a weird dream about a talking head and being socially ostracized…oh wait that was just my life. I

didn't actually remember what I dreamed about, so it was probably irrelevant. All I could come up with was an image of a model air plane flying around the city…what the fuck.

After laying in bed for another five minutes, I finally got up and into the shower. I eventually put on my work uniform and started my walk to the Youth Center which was only

three blocks from Uncle Ernie's small, two bedroom house. It was a Sunday, which usually meant I wouldn't be working according to my schedule, but I decided since I had

already worked on Saturday I might as well work today. Plus it would let me keep my mind off of tomorrow which was unfortunately the first day of school. It's not like I had

anything better to do since I wasn't really in the mood to interact with my peers because of certain experiences from the day before. I finally reached the entrance to the building

and entered it, trying to convince myself that today was going to be a good day. The main room was already full of teens because I had gotten to sleep in this morning and Uncle

Ernie was standing proudly behind his juice bar.

"Hey Dylan how was your sleep kid?"

"Good I guess, do you have any specific tasks for me to do right now?"

"Yes I do in fact, but are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes Uncle Ernie I told you I have just been tired lately."

"Well why don't you hang out with the gang before you start your shift and get to know them."

"That's alright, I don't really think that group needs any more members," I fired back with a hint of resentment in my voice.

"Okay suit yourself lone wolf."

Uncle Ernie then assigned me a list of things to do before I took my first break. Slowly but surely I complete each item on the list while occasionally catching a glimpse of

Kimberly. No matter how hard I tried to ignore her, she always had a way of unintentionally capturing my attention. I finished chopping some fresh fruit and retired to one of the

seats in front of the bar. I noticed Jason climbing a rope with the others circled around him giving him moral support until he finally reached the top and made his way down.

Suddenly, two teens I had never seen before entered the room. One was fucking huge, one was fucking not. I overheard some kids talking about a 'Bulk and Skull' before and

this must have been them, I mean their appearances matched their names perfectly. They seemed to be enemies to the group and I felt as if I identified with them in that sense.

Feeling like I had possibly found some kids that I could relate to, I walked over to the bunch of them and effectively made my presence known by stepping next to who I guessed

was Bulk. Jason was in the middle of challenging him to climb the rope, but instead of letting my hopefully new friend answer the challenge, I stepped towards Jason and forcefully

said that I would climb the rope for Bulk. I didn't know what came over me but I felt as if this opportunity could some how get me revenge on the peers that didn't really care so

much about me or my feelings the day before. Keep in mind that I am six foot three , yes even at 14, and am more of a stocky build, so climbing wasn't exactly my forte, but I

jumped at the chance to show the group that I was just as strong as any one of them. Also, I wanted Bulk and Skull to respect me so I could possibly join their group. I was met

with surprised looks from everyone around me including Bulk and Skull. I also got a look of intrigue from Kimberly which I genuinely enjoyed. I started my climb and carefully

made my way up the rope making sure to grasp the rope with my legs as well so that I could release some of the pressure on my already burning arms. I eventually reached the

top and my arms suddenly gave completely out so I let my body fall with my hands still on the rope, acting as if I had meant to slide down. My feet hit the floor and I was

greeted by a painful stinging in my hands as the skin was ripped off from the descent. The gang looked impressed and I put a smirk on my face to try and hide the pain I was

feeling.

"Look man we were meaning to talk to you…like In private," I heard Jason say in a hushed tone.

I was still so enraged from the way they had treated me before that I quickly retorted with, "I don't really think I want to talk to you anytime soon, I have better things to do,

with people who are actually cool." This got me a surprised and hurt reaction from everyone, especially Kimberly. But I didn't really care about Kimberly's hurt at that moment

because hurting them as a whole was worth it. I turned to catch up with Bulk and Skull who had already started walking out of the room into the hallway that leads to the exit.

"Hey guys wait up, you think I can hang with you?"

"Dude, are you serious?"

"What are you talking about-"

"We don't want to hang out with you because you're a loser."

"Yeah even more than us," Skull added.

"I could have climbed that rope and you ruined the moment for me, no friend would do that."

"I'm sorry I didn't know you actually wanted to climb."

"Well you don't know anything about me so don't try to talk or act for me again freak, or I'll beat the shit out of you."

"Yeah freak," Bulk punched Skull in the gut for this comment.

I watched them walk away with a confused brain as I tried to figure out why nobody wanted to be associated with me in any fucking way. I walked back into the room by myself

and got met with a 'where are your friends now' look from Jason, Billy, Zack, and Trini. Kimberly gave me a disappointed look which made me even more upset than the others'

and I turned my head from all of them, obviously humiliated, and walked straight into the back room to violently chop more fruit. I worked furiously for the next couple of hours

trying to forget everything that had transpired in Angel Grove. I came to the conclusion that I was going to have to find a way to get out of Angel Grove, and fast. As I quickly

washed cutting knifes while contemplating my near future I sliced open my finger to reveal a surprising amount of blood. "Shit just my luck." I search for a Band-Aid as I

accidentally get blood on the floor, counter and sink. I finally give up after searching most of the room and decide to tie a dry wash cloth around my finger as an easy to stop the

blood flow. After cleaning up what was affected by the spilt blood, I went to the bathroom located behind the room I had been working in. As I turned on the faucet I felt a familiar

twinge of electricity surge through my body. Before I knew what was happening I found myself standing in the middle of the Command Center.

"Dylan, I know we had to turn you away before, but there appears to be something you can aid us in," Zordon's thunderous voice boomed.

"What makes you think I would want to help you?" This was the moment when I finally started to realize the monster I had become for no good reason other than feeling

unwanted. This wasn't me and I finally understood the immaturity of the way I had been acting. It was time to man up and drop the vengeful out cast act. "I'm sorry Zordon, I'm

ready and willing to help in any way possible."

"Excellent Dylan, turn your attention to the viewing globe. What you are seeing is a gigantic monster set upon the city by Rita Repulsa. The Power Rangers are currently stuck in

an alternate dimension and unless you lead the monster to destroy a certain building, they will be trapped in it forever."

"Wow, sounds like a piece of cake and not out of the ordinary at all," I responded sarcastically. As I turned back to Zordon I tried to show no fear but I'm pretty sure he saw right

through my facade.

"Dylan I have no doubt that you are capable of this task. My observation of your rope climbing skills have proven to me that you are able to do much more than meets the eye."

I never thought I would gain so much confidence through a pep talk in my entire life, but I guess a floating head can do that for you. "Alright Zordon, I trust you, I'm mentally

prepared, let's do this." A couple seconds passed by, and suddenly I was in downtown Angel Grove staring up at monster read to squish me with one foot step. I suddenly

realized that I didn't even notice what building I was supposed to get the big fuck to smash through. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," I whisper to myself as I dodge a kick from the giant that

connects with a concrete building behind me. He broke through it alright, but no Power Rangers ran outside. I run to the other side of the street and stand in front of the closest

building to me, hoping that it was the right choice. Monster fuck karate chops the small shop and I roll out of the way expecting a bad ass team of Power Rangers to back me up,

but no. I start to panic until I remember the words Zordon had spoken, "you are capable of this task." I focus in on my surroundings, and my brain suddenly tells me to look for

any abnormalities in the buildings around me. I start scanning the buildings quickly as I am running for cover. My eyes finally land on a building that's appearance seems to change

from a traditional brick building into what looked like a block of dark gray clay. "Well that looks fucked up so…I'm just going to go with that one," I say to myself while sprinting to

the entrance of 'Emily's Garden.' The creature catches up quickly and punches in my direction before I can move, causing me to close my eyes and hope for the best. I open my

eyes after feeling a second surge of energy rush through my body to find my self in the command center safe and sound.

"Great work Dylan, if there was a sixth power coin you would indeed be the one to possess it."

"Thanks Zordon but what if that wasn't the right building? You zapped me out to quick to be sure."

"I had absolute confidence in your choice after you had spent so much energy focusing on the task at hand. When I realized you used your mind to identify the right building

instead of leaving it to luck I knew you had made the right choice."

"That's a lot of pressure to put on fourteen year old," I said with a sense of question still resonating on my face. Zordon must have perfectly read my emotions again because he

then advised me to look at the viewing globe to see the Power Rangers free and battling the monster. "Alright cool," I said finally relaxed. "No offense Zordon, but can you beam

me back to the bathroom now, my uncle is probably worried and looking for me."

"Of course Dylan, and know that after your incredible showing of courage today there might just be a spot on this team for you."

Before I could respond, I found myself in the bathroom again and heard Uncle Ernie banging on the door and asking if I was okay. I told him I was just dressing a wound from

cutting fruit and the running water had blocked out his cries…what a piece of shit lie. Surprisingly, he bought it though as he then told me to hurry up and come listen to the news

on the radio with him. I took off the tied wash cloth on my finger and finally got to run cold water on the cut. A couple of seconds later, I turned the water off and miraculously

found a Band-Aid in my pocket while searching for a quick way to dry my hands. I didn't know if Zordon had some how teleported it or placed it there but I was pretty certain he

had. I realized he had never asked about it in the command center and he had also told me he had been watching me earlier so I came to the conclusion that he had it ready for

me as soon as I cut myself. Maybe the exclusion from the team was a test from Zordon and I had been failing it until I let my anger go and stepped up to the plate when the

world needed it. Who really knows what goes through that floating head of his. I had suddenly started to see Zordon as an encouraging father figure, which I guess I needed

knowing that I hadn't heard from my dad since he left. Then I thought about how fucking sappy I was getting and decided to just get back to the counter with my newly

bandaged finger and enjoy some bonding time with my uncle over the news story he had been so excited about. Ironically, it had been one on the Power Rangers which only

brought a subtle smirk to my face. I listened to Uncle E. go on and on about his theories about how they got here, and they were all absolutely fucking ridiculous. I couldn't tell

him how wrong he had been because I had assumed the identities of the group were supposed to be kept secret. Suddenly, I saw Kimberly, Jason, Trini, and Billy enter through

the main entrance and I decided this the perfect opportunity to apologize for my behavior. "I'm going to go talk to the gang Uncle E."

"You got it kid. Here, before you walk over to their table you might as well take these drinks over to them."

"How much do they owe you?"

"It's on the house," Uncle Ernie replied with a sort of smile on his face almost like he knew these four, were part of the Power Rangers...bullshit he couldn't have.

I walked the drinks over and placed them on the table in front of each teenager before putting the extra cup, originally made for Zack, in the center of the table. "Hey guys, I just

wanted to say I'm sorry for the way I treated you guys earlier. I've just been in a really shitty mood lately and in all honestly, as I'm sure you heard from Zordon, I really want to

be an ally and not an enemy."

"Thanks for the apology man, but after talking through it with each other, we came to the conclusion that we deserved the way you treated us today, we were being total tools,"

Jason replied.

"Yeah, we didn't even realize how much we were ignoring you the last couple of days," Trini added.

"Your performance today was exquisite, and we would be happy to be your friend in and out of battle," Billy chimed in with a friendly tone.

"Totally, your bravery and smarts today really surprised us, you would have made a great ranger," Kimberly said with a beautiful smile on her face.

Her statement made me feel as if she was flirting with me, but I wasn't sure. Either way I liked the way she smiled at me and that's all that mattered to me. "Wow, thank you

guys, it means a lot to be invited into your group, but don't feel like you have to include me just because you feel bad for me. I understand that you guys have been friends for a

very long time. I imagine letting a new kid in would be an extremely difficult process."

"It's not like that at all bro," Jason said.

"To prove that we really want to get to know you and become great friends and fighting partners alike, I took the liberty of making you one of these," Billy said as he presented

me with a metallic watch that was identical to the ones on each teenager's wrist, the only exception being that mine was a light shade of brown while the others' corresponded

with their individual ranger colors. "This will let you contact Zordon and Alpha, or even teleport to the command center with a touch of a button," Billy added aiming his finger at a

small fob located on the watch.

"This is awesome, thanks guys this is fucking amazing," I shouted as I attached the gadget to my wrist.

"Kid, watch your language, we got little children in here."

"Sorry Uncle E.," I responded as everyone else started laughing in response to my uncle calling me out.

"Hey we're going to see a movie at six, you want to come?"

"Sure, let me just clean up the back and see if Uncle Ernie needs anything else done," I responded to Kimberly' question.

"Alright well we are going to head over to the entrance way soon to wait for Zack so when your done come meet us."

"Will do Kimberly." My heart skipped a beat when I realized I had just had a solid first conversation with Kimberly…hell yeah! I approached Uncle Ernie but before I could even ask

him anything he said, "your good to go have fun kid, don't worry about cleaning up."

"Thanks Uncle E., you're the man."

"I know, I know, now run home and get changed before they leave without you."

I took Uncle Ernie's advice and exited the building's back door seconds later. I sprinted home and changed into a brown t-shirt, to match my new watch, and a pair of jeans

before sprinting back to the Youth Center and entering through the front door. I arrived just in time to see Trini at the top of the climbing rope looking somewhat frightened.

"Hey Dylan's back, let's roll," Jason requested.

All six of us then made our way out of the building and to the local movie theater which was about five blocks down the street. We collectively talked about our crazy action-

packed day, and even though I wasn't with them for everything that occurred, I finally felt that I was a part of the team. And finally being a part of something felt so good that all

of the stress in my life had completely evaporated, at least I thought it had.


End file.
